Child Birth: Encyclopdia vs. Media Portrayl
COMPOSITION II Haley Lundberg Rhetorical Analysis Shiloh Peters Overview 1- My mass media source is What to Expect When You're Expecting which is an American comedy-drama film directed by Kirk Jones and made in 2012. This movie is about five couples who are planning on having their first child. Between each couple the movie expresses the joys, pains, and processes in having a baby. The film shows what all can happen while being pregnant such as miscarriage, adoption, twins, complications, and blessings. This movie’s intended audience is for ages 13 and up, and also for future mothers and comedy goers who want to enjoy the highs and lows of having a baby. This type of writing is meant for mostly entertainment and does not have completely true facts about giving birth. Summary and analysis of the movie- “In short: Jules and Evan (Cameron Diaz and Matthew Morrison) are a celebrity dance couple who are forced to balance their high profile careers (and uber-fit lifestyle) with an unexpected pregnancy after only dating for a few months; Holly and a somewhat hesitant Alex (Jennifer Lopez and Rodrigo Santoro), have unsuccessfully tried numerous fertility plans before deciding to adopt a child; Rosie and Marco (Anna Kendrick and Chace Crawford) reunite years after high school, and following a few beers, engage in a one night stand that results in (yup) an unexpected pregnancy; Wendy and Gary Cooper (Elizabeth Banks and Ben Falcone) have attempted desperately for two years to have a child – until one night the pair decide to take a break from would-be baby making and end up pregnant. Lastly, Skyler and Ramsey Cooper (Brooklyn Decker and Dennis Quaid), father of soon-to-be-dad Gary, suddenly discover that despite a thirty year age difference, they too are (one more time) pregnant (Kendrick).” During the labor process Jules and Evan have a beautiful baby girl named Emerson and get engaged. Holly and Alex end up adopting an Ethiopian baby boy; Alex is ready to be a dad after seeing his son. Rosie and Marco have a miscarriage in the middle of them movie, stop talking to each other, then at the end, they start to take things slow in their relationship. Wendy and Gary go through a stressful pregnancy, and during labor has to have an emergency see section and Wendy loses a lot of blend but turns out fine a nd has a baby girl. Skyler and Ramsey have the perfect pregnancy with little to no pain but have twins. “At different points in the film, certain characters meet others. Ramsey is Gary's father, and Gary was on Jules' weight loss program. Skyler is Rosie's cousin, and Holly is Wendy and Skyler's photographer (Wikipedia).” Overview/ Summary 2- My scholarly source is Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology with the topic as Birth. It was written in 2001 and explains in detail about the different stages in giving birth and all the extras that happen during the birthing process. The intended audience for this text is for psychologist who are trying to deal with women who have postpartum depression and psychological needs from being in labor and having a baby; also, one who plans on aiding those having babies. This type of writing is well researched and backed up with scientific fact for giving birth. Its purpose is to advise and teach. Features/ Analysis- These two completely different types of writing styles are both trying to convey the same subject, which is having a baby, but they use different techniques. The film What to Expect When You’re Expecting uses a dramatic and over exaggerated tone and language to communicate humor and somewhat factual information. The encyclopedia gives a realistic stern tone of what actually happens and gives correct data for those like psychologists who need it. Techniques/ Methods- In the movie the producer tells the actors to make what normally would happen to be overstated. In the first stage of labor, the movie shows the women screaming or being very calm from contractions to show all aspects of what coul d happen and to make the movie funnier. The encyclopedia is straight forward when talking about the first stage by telling every detail such as how long the contractions are apart, how the cervix is not dilated more than three to four centimeters, and how the mucus plug is usually past this stage. The movie shows these in action therefore it is not stated. The text states out each detail to inform correctly. Another technique between the difference in movie production and encyclopedia writing is that the movie will be more broad and vague about the situation of delivering the baby. In What to Expect When You’re Expecting the producer chose not to show the actual motion picture of having a baby because it was too graphic for the intended audience; which is age 13 and up. The movie does go into a bit more detail in the labor process about the emotions of all the women getting to the hospital and having their painful dramatic contractions, but the movie is pretty much censored from the actual giving birth part. The encyclopedia goes into every detail about the birth of the baby because the intended audience is for psychologist trying to learn and need to know the stages for their profession. A good fact about the movie is that it has five different couples all with different scenarios of their birthing process. They have a couple with twins, miscarriage, adoption, and other situations. But because of this, many women who have had children can relate, which makes them like the film more. The encyclopedia is just straight forward and talks about the norm of what happens, therefore it is obviously not personal and that is how it should be because it is meant to inform and teach. Advice/ Guidance- The advice I would give to incoming freshmen who are majoring in psychology that are writing in an encyclopedia for their field would be to plan out what you are going to write and section out the main points. An encyclopedia is informative and compiles information to educate. To be qualified to write for and in one you need to have done extensive research and gathered facts from scientists so you have correct and tested facts. You also need to have a serious tone and know the jargon and language of your professionals in your field to be able to communicate. You must get all the details in order to portray the correct information and purpose. Knowing your audience is also very important because since you are writing for an encyclopedia, your audience is going to be well-educated. They are reading it for educational purposes, therefore their style of writing must be in a clear, concise manner so that the main idea of the subject is clearly understood. Format and wording for an encyclopedia must be in an organized fashion so that the resource as a whole looks to be well thought out, and intended for an educated audience. References- "Film Styles." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Mar. 2014. Web. 09 Apr. 2014. Kendrick, Ben. "‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’ Review." Screen Rant. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.